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My Skoda Slavia DSG completes 6200 km in 8 months: Ownership update

1st February 2024, 16:00 by Brij Gawde

In well-driven city traffic conditions, it gives around 15 km/l. In mixed city conditions, it's approximately 12.5 km/l, and in bumper-to-bumper traffic, it's around 10 km/l.

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It's been approximately 8 months since the Slavia DSG joined our family, and it has covered around 6200 km up to this point. Here's the update at the 6000 km mark -

Positive Aspects

The car's performance is great with no lag in city speeds. It smoothly shifts to D7, balancing mileage and power. You can feel the 150 horsepower when you press the pedal hard.
The DSG gearbox is fantastic! It operates incredibly smoothly, and you won't even feel the gear changes. The shifts are seamless, responsive to input, and always in the right gear.
The speakers are excellent, delivering awesome bass quality! The beats are impressive, and having the subwoofer in the boot creates a theatre-like effect.
The headlight throw is good, and the spread is impressive, covering most of the road ahead.
Passengers don't sense high speeds when travelling at speeds of about 120 km/h and above. The NVH levels are good, and the overall stability of the car is excellent.
The suspension is a bit stiff to my liking, but a stiff suspension = great handling. It handles corners like a charm, making it a joy to drive, especially considering the numerous twists and turns in my area.
The brakes work exceptionally well! Initially, there was a grinding sound at 4000 km, but it turned out to be brake-disc wiping. Fortunately, the sound has disappeared, and now the braking performance is good, instilling confidence.
The seats strike a perfect balance, being neither too hard nor too soft. They are very comfortable, and despite a continuous 600 km trip with minor breaks, there was very little fatigue. The seats of this car are underrated for their comfort.
Wireless connectivity paired with a wireless charger is a blessing. It never disconnects and works seamlessly, functioning like a charm.
The crucial question, "Kitna deti hai?" In well-driven city traffic conditions, it gives around 15 km/l. In mixed city conditions, it's approximately 12.5 km/l, and in bumper-to-bumper traffic, it's around 10 km/l. On the highway, driving like a maniac yields about 11.6 km/l, but with careful driving, we've achieved a maximum of 17.4 km/l. Hoping for an increase after the first service, but overall, satisfied with the current mileage. The ACT technology can be intrusive at times, but it delivers what it's meant to. We've consistently filled up the car with XP95.
The AC works effectively and occasionally makes you shiver even at 21°C. No issues here.
The steering is responsive and provides feedback. It feels light at city speeds but gains weight effectively as the speeds increase.
The instrument cluster and the infotainment system function seamlessly without any lag.
The car looks fantastic, especially in its lava blue shade, attracting a lot of attention on the road.

Areas of Concern

There's been a noticeable increase in rattling from the dashboard, particularly on bad roads. I suspect the flimsy ambient light might be the cause of this issue.
When bottles are placed in the door pockets and a bassy song plays, they vibrate, creating an annoying buzzing sound.
The driver window auto up/down feature works, but the window comes up more slowly compared to the other windows. I plan to address this during the first service.
Škoda's Blaupunkt dashcam isn't performing well. The plug's quality is so poor that the filament inside it has fallen off and dropped into the 12 V socket hole. According to the service advisor, the entire unit containing the 12 V socket needs to be removed to extract the filament. If anyone has ideas on how to extract it without removing the entire unit, your assistance would be greatly appreciated!
The brakes produce a considerable amount of blackish residue on the alloys. I'm not sure what it is, but after a long highway trip, the alloys turn black. Additionally, there is a squealing sound on ramps and occasionally in traffic, though not consistently.
The reverse camera quality is subpar, and the image appears very grainy. Škoda should address this issue promptly for an improved experience.
The placement of buttons for door unlock and ACT is more focused on the passenger and should have been inclined towards the driver for better convenience.
The ventilated seats, although good, don't seem as effective on a hot day as we anticipated. While they make some noise, they don't deliver the expected level of performance.
Škoda could have improved the experience by adding a damping effect to the grab handles on the roof. They currently make a lot of noise when released.
The quality of the switches for the roof-mounted LED reading lamps is poor; they are quite hard to press and operate. Škoda could have considered using push buttons similar to those found in Honda for a better user experience.
The placement of the cruise control is confusing and distracting due to its incorrect positioning.
Answering a call from the steering is a distracting process. This seems unnecessarily inconvenient

The Š K O D A emblem looks cool -

The beast waking up from its slumber!

A light show at the back -

Doesn't it look beautiful?

Trip to AP!

Embarking on an epic 2000 km, 13-day adventure through Andhra Pradesh - here's the travelogue!

Trip Stats:

Total Distance: 2032 km
Best Mileage: 17.4 km/l
Worst Mileage: 8.7 km/l
Fuel: XP95

Let the trip begin

Kicking off on December 20, 2023, our journey started fashionably late, as we usually are. You know the drill – packing, checking doors and gas, etc. An hour or more to hit NH75, and let me tell you, that hour was more like navigating the moon. Broken roads, or to be brutally honest, no road at all – just village vibes.

NH75 finally welcomed us, and we made a pit stop at the Highway Star PVT.LTD food courts for breakfast. Recommended for everyone – petrol pump, ample parking, clean washrooms, plus McDonald's and Domino's. A few meters back is Aradhya Grand for a solid breakfast.

Back on NH75, we transitioned to NH69 after a few clicks. Thank you, Mr Nitin Gadkari, for the fantastic highways. Keeping speeds at 120 km/hr has become the norm now. I remember a time when there was just a small highway, and now we have six lanes!

The car is a joy to drive, especially on the highway. Overtaking is a breeze, even with four passengers and a trunk full of luggage. Brakes inspire confidence, stopping in a straight line without any nervousness. Dad was thoroughly impressed, declaring no turning back from the VW group.

Skoda's goof-up – the cruise control placement. Our old 4G City's system was a breeze compared to this confusing stalk. Admittedly, it affected the mileage, but we still managed 15 km/l on the trip between Bangalore and Tirupati.

Tirupati welcomed us with a great lunch at Pai Viceroy. Highly recommended! We stayed at Starlite Suites Tirupati. Due to the holiday season, hotels like Pai Viceroy and Minerva Grand were booked.Starlite Suites turned out amazing – double bedrooms at a reasonable price, pretty much like regular hotels.

The next day, we headed early to Vijayawada. The first 2 hours of the road were horrible – broken patches everywhere. Lost a lot of time there, but as soon as we hit the highway, we covered the lost time. Quick lunch at Padmavathi Vilaas near Nellore – an amazing lunch indeed!

After about 5 hours from Padmavathi Vilaas, we reached Vijayawada and called it a day. These 5 hours were awesome – smooth roads and a pleasant experience. The stiff suspension translated into excellent stability and handling, and the NVH levels of the car are top-notch.

December 26 - En Route Vizag:

The sun rose bright as we embarked on the trip to beautiful Vizag. Highways from Vijayawada to Vizag were free, though the road quality wasn't stellar. The Chennai-Kolkata Highway NH16 lacked XP95 petrol pumps, so filled up XP95 in bigger cities like Vijayawada before the trip. Reached Hotel Jas near Vizag outskirts on the highway for lunch – an awesome lunch spot with high ratings on Google. Finally, reached Vizag without fatigue.

December 31 - Vizag to Vijayawada:

Back to Vijayawada as schools were about to start. Traveled and took a day break on January 1 in Vijayawada.

January 2, 2024 - Vijayawada to Tirupati:

New year vibes, and we had to get back to Bangalore. Started from Vijayawada to Tirupati with a driver who successfully extracted an awesome mileage of 17.4 km/l! This car is a proper 4-seater.Three people at the back for short trips are fine, but long trips might be a squeeze. Finally reached Tirupati and stayed at Minerva Grand Tirupati. The breakfast here is amazing, with an array of chutneys – unfortunately, I was down with a fever, so couldn't enjoy all the chutneys that day.

January 3, 2024 - Tirupati to Bangalore:

Started at 10:30 am in Tirupati and reached Bangalore at 2:30 pm. A bit sad as exams awaited the next day, and the daily routine was about to kick in. Nevertheless, created lots of memories.

The Car

Issues faced – None. The car's performance throughout the trip was awesome. The seats were supportive, and there was no fatigue whatsoever. The sound system kept us entertained, and the car proved to be an excellent chauffeur car. Overall, loved the trip and the car – can't wait for another adventure in this beauty!